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Wednesday May 28,1997 Vo). CXXXI, No. 3
Headlines
Trojans' season ends on long ball
The USC baseball team's postseason run ended in dramatic fashion when a home run by Matt Frick gave Alabama a 9-8 win over the Trojans and the South II Regional Championship.
Sports, page 12
Talkin' 'bout my MTV generation
For a decade and a half,
MTV has remained the perennial purveyor of pop culture in America. Staff writer Keith Caulfield examines the influence the cable channel still carries.
Diversions, page 6
Learning to cope with senioritis
•
With thousands of seniors contracting 'motivation deficit syndrome' as they enter their final year, editorial writer Jessica Neumann explores the many sides to this debilitating predicament.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
USCard office, "Night Readings"
The USCard Administrative Office will be moving from the basement of the Student Union to Parking Structure D, PSD-102, effective May 27.
The USCard Customer Service office will remain in the Commons lobby.
For questions, call 740-8709.
"Night Readings,'' a series of readings by poets and writers, will be held on Friday, May 30, at 7 p.m.
It will present writings that make references to an exhibition of current work by 12 artists that received artist grants from the Cultural Affairs Department.
The event will be held at the Municipal Art Gallery, Bamdall Art Park, at 4800 Hollywood Blvd.
Admission is $1.50 for adults and free for children.
For more information, call 213-485-4581.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Snmmr tai
Getting carded
Danlaa CaataAon / Summer Trojan
Susan Melkonians, a senior majoring in architecture, puts the finishing touches on USC's entry into the "House of Trading Cards" contest again UCLA engineering students.
USC architecture students won the competition, 12-10, which was judged by NFL draft picks, including former Trojan defensive tackle Darrell Russell.
The event was sponsored by TOPPS trading cards. The winning team received $2,000 in scholarship funds and the runner-up received $1,000..
Janitors vote in favor of union
By Jennifer Hamm
Editor-in-chief
Janitors voted to unionize Friday in a National Labor Relations Board election, with a vote of 107 for and 79 against the union, presumably enaing a 14-month conflict between ServiceMaster, the janitor's employer, and Local 1877, Service Employees International Union.
After the ballots were counted late Friday afternoon, about 30 janitors and union organizers celebrated on 34th Street, next to the Dental Science Center. Some embraced, cheered and shed tears as they chanted "Si se puede," (Yes we can) a common chant for union supporters.
"This means that somebody will represent us ... (it means) a victory ... it means a lot," said Alberto Chavez, who has worked on campus since 1974.
Chavez said ne voted for the union because he believes it can provide more job security than ServiceMaster.
Union organizer Karla Zombro said she was glad to prove that the workers went union in a process that is acceptable to ServiceMaster.
"We knew we had the support all along," she said. "The workers have spoken."
Henry Lacher, ServiceMaster coordinator for the campus, said the results reflect somewhat of a division among the janitors
between those who wanted to vote union and those who did not.
"Now is the time for the healing process to begin to unite the employees of the department into a single unit, especially with as close a ballot as this was," Lacher said.
Zombro said ServiceMaster is to blame for the division among the voting janitors.
"ServiceMaster has created a division," she said. "The campaign that they've waged has been very divisive. Due to their involvement, the workers ended up being divided."
Zombro said she hopes contract negotiations can begin in June.
"We hope ServiceMaster will be agreeable and it won't take long," she said. "We are optimistic, but not naively."
The union will focus its negotiations on job security, workload, wage and benefit issues, Zombro said. She said she could not comment on how long the process will take, but she said it would be anywhere between a few weeks and a few months.
Lacher said although he will not personally be involved with contract negotiations, ServiceMaster will bargain in good faith.
"We've always supported the NLRB process and the right of the worker to choose for them-
(See Union, page 3)
Century student death ruled natural
By Katie Tovichien
Staff Writer
Investigators attributed the death of a 20-year-old student in Century Apartments last month to natural causes after finding no evidence of violence or trauma, said DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor.
Taylor said Mark Spratt, a sophomore whose roommate found him dead on their couch on April 4, had a history of medical problems and had a number of benign tumors at the time of his death.
"He had quite an assortment of medication that he'd been
taking.... He'd been ill since childhood and has had several surgeries to remove tumors," Taylor said.
Taylor said "the coroner reviewed the medication that the victim had and found that each container of medication had what would be considered a proper amount in them, based upon the time that the prescription was filled and the number of the capsules that were left.... It was a natural death—as natural as it might be for a 20-year-old person to die."
Spratt's roommate, Craig Comer, 20, was reported to have spoken to him at 11:30 a.m.
Comer saw him again at 6:30 mate and everything was fine."
I
p.m. still lying on the couch and assumed tv
watching television, Taylor sai
When Comer returned to the living room at 10 p.m. he noticed Spratt still lying on the couch, looking pale. He tried to wake him up and when Spratt would not wake up, Comer notified neighbors for help. DPS and Los Angeles Fire Department units arrived and at 3 a.m. the coroner said the victim had probably been dead for 12 hours.
"He was doing fine as far as his studies—there were no problems," Taylor said. "He got along real well with his room-
Spratt was a good student and had been attending his classes regularly before his death. He did not mention being in pain to his roommate or his mother before he died, Taylor said.
DPS and Spratt's family are now awaiting the results from toxicological reports which will indicate Spratt s chemical state at his time of death, including whether any drugs were in his system and whether they could have impacted his death.
The Counseling Center offered counseling to Spratt's roommate and neighbors after his death.
Web campaign addresses college costs
By Sarita D. Jackson
Staff Writer
Rock the Vote, the U.S. Student Association and Public Interest Research Groups have united to launch a campaign, including a petition on the World Wide Web to urge Congress to make a college education less of a financial burden on students. Among their goals is to have student aid be allocated to keep pace with education costs.
Mark Strama, the program director for Rock the Vote, said this is the first time that these organizations have used the Internet as an "advocacy tool." Other organizations continue to use the Web and e-mail to provide information and resources to resolve the "student aid crisis" and to prevent Congress
from cutting aid further.
The campaign, which began the second week of April, hopes to make the goal of reducing the financial burden on students in college.
The groups are urging Congress to provide $35 billion in tax creaks and an increase to $5,000 per student in Pell Grants. Currently, more than 3.6 million low- and middle-income student take advantage of Pell Grants annually to help them further their college education. The amount offered to students in the form of Pell Grants has been cut in half for the past 15 years, resulting in the a larger number of students using loans.
The average costs of a college education has gone up two and a half times the rate of
inflation since 1985 and in public schools in California, even faster,' Strama said. According to a report entitled "College Debt and the American Family," more and more people are borrowing to support a college education.
The average student debt exceeds $14,000. Due to this, changes in student loans have also been advocated, including the elimination of insurance fees attached to student loans, lower interest rates, ending the tax placed on loan forgiveness and providing a $1,500 per year refundable tax credit for educational cost.
Kazim Ali, president of the U.S. Student Association, said thousands of students across America have signed the petition.
(See Campaign, page 3)

Wednesday May 28,1997 Vo). CXXXI, No. 3
Headlines
Trojans' season ends on long ball
The USC baseball team's postseason run ended in dramatic fashion when a home run by Matt Frick gave Alabama a 9-8 win over the Trojans and the South II Regional Championship.
Sports, page 12
Talkin' 'bout my MTV generation
For a decade and a half,
MTV has remained the perennial purveyor of pop culture in America. Staff writer Keith Caulfield examines the influence the cable channel still carries.
Diversions, page 6
Learning to cope with senioritis
•
With thousands of seniors contracting 'motivation deficit syndrome' as they enter their final year, editorial writer Jessica Neumann explores the many sides to this debilitating predicament.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
USCard office, "Night Readings"
The USCard Administrative Office will be moving from the basement of the Student Union to Parking Structure D, PSD-102, effective May 27.
The USCard Customer Service office will remain in the Commons lobby.
For questions, call 740-8709.
"Night Readings,'' a series of readings by poets and writers, will be held on Friday, May 30, at 7 p.m.
It will present writings that make references to an exhibition of current work by 12 artists that received artist grants from the Cultural Affairs Department.
The event will be held at the Municipal Art Gallery, Bamdall Art Park, at 4800 Hollywood Blvd.
Admission is $1.50 for adults and free for children.
For more information, call 213-485-4581.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Snmmr tai
Getting carded
Danlaa CaataAon / Summer Trojan
Susan Melkonians, a senior majoring in architecture, puts the finishing touches on USC's entry into the "House of Trading Cards" contest again UCLA engineering students.
USC architecture students won the competition, 12-10, which was judged by NFL draft picks, including former Trojan defensive tackle Darrell Russell.
The event was sponsored by TOPPS trading cards. The winning team received $2,000 in scholarship funds and the runner-up received $1,000..
Janitors vote in favor of union
By Jennifer Hamm
Editor-in-chief
Janitors voted to unionize Friday in a National Labor Relations Board election, with a vote of 107 for and 79 against the union, presumably enaing a 14-month conflict between ServiceMaster, the janitor's employer, and Local 1877, Service Employees International Union.
After the ballots were counted late Friday afternoon, about 30 janitors and union organizers celebrated on 34th Street, next to the Dental Science Center. Some embraced, cheered and shed tears as they chanted "Si se puede," (Yes we can) a common chant for union supporters.
"This means that somebody will represent us ... (it means) a victory ... it means a lot," said Alberto Chavez, who has worked on campus since 1974.
Chavez said ne voted for the union because he believes it can provide more job security than ServiceMaster.
Union organizer Karla Zombro said she was glad to prove that the workers went union in a process that is acceptable to ServiceMaster.
"We knew we had the support all along," she said. "The workers have spoken."
Henry Lacher, ServiceMaster coordinator for the campus, said the results reflect somewhat of a division among the janitors
between those who wanted to vote union and those who did not.
"Now is the time for the healing process to begin to unite the employees of the department into a single unit, especially with as close a ballot as this was," Lacher said.
Zombro said ServiceMaster is to blame for the division among the voting janitors.
"ServiceMaster has created a division," she said. "The campaign that they've waged has been very divisive. Due to their involvement, the workers ended up being divided."
Zombro said she hopes contract negotiations can begin in June.
"We hope ServiceMaster will be agreeable and it won't take long," she said. "We are optimistic, but not naively."
The union will focus its negotiations on job security, workload, wage and benefit issues, Zombro said. She said she could not comment on how long the process will take, but she said it would be anywhere between a few weeks and a few months.
Lacher said although he will not personally be involved with contract negotiations, ServiceMaster will bargain in good faith.
"We've always supported the NLRB process and the right of the worker to choose for them-
(See Union, page 3)
Century student death ruled natural
By Katie Tovichien
Staff Writer
Investigators attributed the death of a 20-year-old student in Century Apartments last month to natural causes after finding no evidence of violence or trauma, said DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor.
Taylor said Mark Spratt, a sophomore whose roommate found him dead on their couch on April 4, had a history of medical problems and had a number of benign tumors at the time of his death.
"He had quite an assortment of medication that he'd been
taking.... He'd been ill since childhood and has had several surgeries to remove tumors," Taylor said.
Taylor said "the coroner reviewed the medication that the victim had and found that each container of medication had what would be considered a proper amount in them, based upon the time that the prescription was filled and the number of the capsules that were left.... It was a natural death—as natural as it might be for a 20-year-old person to die."
Spratt's roommate, Craig Comer, 20, was reported to have spoken to him at 11:30 a.m.
Comer saw him again at 6:30 mate and everything was fine."
I
p.m. still lying on the couch and assumed tv
watching television, Taylor sai
When Comer returned to the living room at 10 p.m. he noticed Spratt still lying on the couch, looking pale. He tried to wake him up and when Spratt would not wake up, Comer notified neighbors for help. DPS and Los Angeles Fire Department units arrived and at 3 a.m. the coroner said the victim had probably been dead for 12 hours.
"He was doing fine as far as his studies—there were no problems," Taylor said. "He got along real well with his room-
Spratt was a good student and had been attending his classes regularly before his death. He did not mention being in pain to his roommate or his mother before he died, Taylor said.
DPS and Spratt's family are now awaiting the results from toxicological reports which will indicate Spratt s chemical state at his time of death, including whether any drugs were in his system and whether they could have impacted his death.
The Counseling Center offered counseling to Spratt's roommate and neighbors after his death.
Web campaign addresses college costs
By Sarita D. Jackson
Staff Writer
Rock the Vote, the U.S. Student Association and Public Interest Research Groups have united to launch a campaign, including a petition on the World Wide Web to urge Congress to make a college education less of a financial burden on students. Among their goals is to have student aid be allocated to keep pace with education costs.
Mark Strama, the program director for Rock the Vote, said this is the first time that these organizations have used the Internet as an "advocacy tool." Other organizations continue to use the Web and e-mail to provide information and resources to resolve the "student aid crisis" and to prevent Congress
from cutting aid further.
The campaign, which began the second week of April, hopes to make the goal of reducing the financial burden on students in college.
The groups are urging Congress to provide $35 billion in tax creaks and an increase to $5,000 per student in Pell Grants. Currently, more than 3.6 million low- and middle-income student take advantage of Pell Grants annually to help them further their college education. The amount offered to students in the form of Pell Grants has been cut in half for the past 15 years, resulting in the a larger number of students using loans.
The average costs of a college education has gone up two and a half times the rate of
inflation since 1985 and in public schools in California, even faster,' Strama said. According to a report entitled "College Debt and the American Family," more and more people are borrowing to support a college education.
The average student debt exceeds $14,000. Due to this, changes in student loans have also been advocated, including the elimination of insurance fees attached to student loans, lower interest rates, ending the tax placed on loan forgiveness and providing a $1,500 per year refundable tax credit for educational cost.
Kazim Ali, president of the U.S. Student Association, said thousands of students across America have signed the petition.
(See Campaign, page 3)